Coding and decoding machine



May 10, 1938. A. R. NOLL.

I CODING AND DECODING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 28, 1956 INVEMa Y 'gjz W05 ATTOR N EY "May 10; 1938". AQIL QLL 2,116,732

CODING ANUbEC ING MACHINE Filed .Aug. 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.3.'

EIEIVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-CODING AND DECODING MACHINE Application August 28,

13 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of secret writing and moreparticularly to a new system for transforming language messages intodecodable -.secret code. i An object of the present invention is toprovide an improved system for more accurate coding and decoding ofcharacters or signs used in various communications.

Another object of the invention is to prevent 1Q periodical recurrencesby causing irregularities in the coding process by a new system so as tointroduce a new order of complexity of code according to an arbitrarysystem.

A further object of the invention is to produce a resultant which ismost complex but whereby the coding and decoding operations aresimplified.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus whichwill automatically code uncoded message, and which will automaticallydecode the message as a result of the mere typing,of the coded message.

Still other objects and features of the present 0- invention are: toprovide a plurality of coding units or circuit changing devices andassociated means to operate two or more simultaneously: to provide meansindependent of the operating machines to control the positioning of thecod- 3Q ing units; means operated selectively for different selectionsof the independent means to control the positioning of the coding unitsaccordingly; means whereby the coding units are operated upon eachoperation of the primary ma- 3.; chine; means whereby the coded messagecan be decoded by operation of either the primary or secondary machine;means whereby all the coding units can be returned to a normal startingor home position.

40 Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be obviousfrom the following particular description-of one form of mechanismembodying the invention or from an inspection of the accompanyingdrawings; and the invention also constitutes certain new and usefulfeatures of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forthand claimed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing one em- 54) bodiment of thepresent invention.

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are detailed views of one form of a coding unit andthe positioning means therefor.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the primary and sec- 55 ondary machines aredesignated generally T-l no a message as a result of the mere typing ofthe 1936, Serial No. 98,271

and T-2. For purposes of illustration the machines are shown torepresent standard typewriting machines having the usual keyboardscomprising a plurality of key bars, I, of which only several have beenshown. Associated with the key bars are individual contacts 2 for thepurpose of transmitting a coding impulse through the associated circuitsupon selection and depression of the associated key bar I, therebyrecording the selected character and transmitting m the coding impulse.Also associated with the key bars are shown the solenoids 3- which uponenergization are adapted to operate or depress the associated key bar tooperate the associated type bar in the usual manner to record the cor- 5responding character. It .will be shown later herein upon energizationof the solenoid and depression of the key bar, a coding impulse is nottransmitted by said key bar. Provision is made at one of the machines,let it be assumed to be the primary machine T-l, that each operation ofany key bar operates a common set of contacts 4. The method of providingcommon operated contacts for a typewriter keyboard is well known andrequires no detailed description. One meth- 0d commonly used is to havea common bail or rod disposed beneath the key bars of the keyboard sothat the depression of any one key bar depresses the common bail whichin turn operates, in this example closes the associated contacts 4.

interposed between the machines Tl and T-2 is a plurality of codingunits or circuit changing devices 6. These coding units are of the usualsegmented commutator type which are well known in the art and need nodetailed de- .scription. The arrangement which may be embodied in thepresent invention is shown in Patent No. 1,502,376, issued to Damm, July22, 1924. Another arrangement of the coding units is shown in the PatentNo. 1,510,441, issued to Hebern, September 30, 1924, which may beembodied in the present invention. Both types of coding unitsemploycontacts or brushes I and 8 associated wit-ha segmented section 9.Referring to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, a form of the coding units will bedescribed briefly. A stationary insulating ring member I0 is provided tosupport a plurality of individual brushes 1 arranged to engageindividual insulated conducting segments II; The commutator section.comprising segments II, is secured to shaft l2 and adapted to be rotatedthereby upon operation of the motor magnet 13. The number of brushes andconducting segments provided is to correspond to the number ofcharacters desired to be included nels I5. A ratchet I6 is secured tothe shaft I2 and adapted to be stepped ahead by the pawl II uponoperation of the motor magnet l3. It is obvious that upon energizationof the magnet the armature I8 is attracted and due to being pivoted atI9 the extension arm of the armature is moved downwardly carrying withit the pivoted pawl |'l. Upon deenergization of the magnet, the spring2| restores the arm 20, armature I8 and pawl H to the normal positionshown in the figure, thereby advancing ratchet I 6 and shaft l2. It isalso seen that upon energizatlon of the magnet I3 and the attraction ofthe armature I8, the extension arm 22 is urged outwardly so that theattached pin rod 23 is adapted to open the normally closed contacts 24.Also secured to the shaft I2 is a rotary contact arm 21 associated witha commutator 25 having a single conducting segment 26, the purpose ofwhich will be understood -as the description pro- Isis gresses.

The coding units or drums 6 are arranged to be wired in a reciprocalarrangement, the general principle of which is to produce the resultthat when a given character is struck in coding a substitute characteris produced on the secondary machine and that when the substitutecharacter is struck in decoding the original character is produced uponthe secondary machine. This arrangement makes it possible to spell wordsin cipher and by copying the cipher words to return them or translatethem into their true meaning, and this method is well known in the art'and therefore it is believed requires no further description. A detailedarrangement thereof is shown in Fig. 20 of the Hebern patent citedhereinabove. r

Therefore, it is evident that upon depression of a selected characterkey bar I, a circuit is completed as follows: from grounded battery 30to normally closed contact 3| of relay 32, common conductor 33, theselected contact 2 now closed, key bar I through the associated circuitsconnected to brushes I and 8 of the coding units 6,

tothe normally closed contacts 34 of relay 35 to the associated groundedsolenoid 3, energizing said solenoid to depress and operate thecorresponding key bar of the secondary machine T-2 to record thesubstituted character. It is to be noted at this time that depression ofthe selected key bar at the secondary machine, the closure of theassociated contact 2 is not effective to cause faulty operation of thesystem, due to the fact that contacts 36 of relay 35 are normally open.Similarly, due to the normally open contacts 31 of relay 32 thesolenoids 3 of the primary machine T-| are not energized upon depressionof a key bar of said machine.

In addition to energizing the solenoid and operating the key bar ortranslating instrumentality to record the substitute character upondepression of a key bar of the primary machine, it is remembered thatthe common contacts 4 associated therewith are also operated. Operationof contacts 4 causes battery 40 to energize and operate certain of themotor magnets I3 (and thereby advancing or positioning the associatedcoding units one step) through the contacts 4| ana'rae which are closedin certain selected combinations. The manner of controlling the contacts4| will now be described.

The unit generally designated 42 represents a perforated tapetransmitter which is so well known in the art of printing telegraphythat no detailed description is necessary. It is sumcient to state thatit has five contact levers 43 which are positioned from the normallyshown position to engage the contacts 4| under the control of aperforated tape 44, by means of five finger pins (not shown) which arepresent under the tape. Upon the presentation of a perforation in thetape over any of the finger pins, the act of the pin rising through theperforation allows the associated contact lever to be positioned toengage the corresponding contact 4|. -When the pin does not engage orsense a perforation in the tape the con tact lever remains in theposition normally as shown in the figure. The tape is perforated tocorrespond to the permutations of the Baudot code or like code and thusthere are thirty-two difierent permutations of the contact levers 43.The finger pins are withdrawn and the tape is stepped forward in thedirection of the arrow upon operation of the magnet 45. The magnet 45 isoperated each time a key bar of the primary machine is depressed, due tothe closure of the common contacts 4 connecting battery 4|] to themagnet. Energization of the said magnet attracts the armature 46 to movedownwardly the pawl 41 pivoted thereto. Upon deenergization thereof thepawl 41 under action of spring 43 steps the ratchet wheel 49 ahead. Theratchet wheel is secured to shaft 50 upon which is mounted a star wheel5| to advance the tape 44 past the finger pins. Thus it is seen thatupon operation of a key bar of the primary machine a differentperforation combination on the tape is presented to the sensing orfinger pins to position the contact levers 43 in accordance with theperforations. Operation of the contact levers 43 to engage theassociated contacts 4| permits grounded battery 40 to be connected tothe selected motor magnets I3 to operate said magnets, thereby causingthe coding units 6 to be positioned accordingly and altering theassociated coding circuits. It is evident that the coding units will bepositioned in accordance with the perforations on the tape; that is,one, two, three, four, or five of the units may be positionedsimultaneously to change the circuit connections between the machinesT--| and T2. The tape may be perforated in the usual manner tocorrespond to any text, copy, or character arrangement designated. It isevident that the perforations representing the characters will not bearranged in a periodic manner, but in accordance with the text used sothat the positioning of the coding units will not follow a certaindefinite and periodic pattern. In this manner a most complex codedmessage may be obtained, and one in which the sequence of the codedcharacters is not in accordance with a definite predetermined patternwhich is repeated periodically.

Several methods of decoding are disclosed, namely, the coded message maybe typed on the primary machine to have the clear message recorded onthe secondary or translating machine, or the coded message may be typedon the secondary machine to have the clear message recorded on theprimary machine.

To accomplish the first method the circuit arrangement shown in thefigure need not be altered. The coded copy is typed on the primary r 3,1raves machine and the clear copy will be recorded on the secondarymachine. Obviously, of course, the coding units 6 must be positionedexactly during decoding as during the coding cycle. The units arepositioned to a normal starting position and the perforated tape 44 isadvanced through the unit 42 just as advanced during the codingoperation. It is understood, due to the reciprocal circuit connectionsof the coding units that the coding and decoding operations can beeffected from the primary machine.

The second method of decoding is effected by closing switch 60 therebyconnecting grounded battery 30 to relays 32 and 35, energizing them toopen the contacts 3i and close the contacts 31 associated with relay 32and closing the contacts 36 and opening the contacts 34 associated withrelay 35. In this manner, battery is removed from the contacts 2 of theprimary machine and applied to the contacts 2 of the sec- I units 6 arepositioned to the normal starting position and the tape 44 is presentedto the sensin fingers just as during the coding procedure, typing thecoded copy on the secondary machine will resultin having the clearmessage record on the primary machine. Each time a character is recordedat the primary machine during decoding due to the operation of theselected solenoid and character key bar, the common contacts 4 areoperated to energize the magnet 45 as described hereinbefore to advancethe perforated It is obvious that a reciprocal wiring artape. rangementof the coding units is not necessary if this method of decoding is used.As mentioned before, before starting the decoding cycle the coding unitsmust be positioned to correspond to the initial home position of theunits before the coding cycle was initiated. Returningthe coding unitsto the normal position can be effected automatically as follows:Switches 62 and 63 are closed to connect the respective batteries 64 and65 to the associated circuits. It was mentioned. hereinbefore that therotary contact arms 21 are secured to the coding unit shafts l2, andthat the number of steps required for the contact arms to complete onerevolution is the same as the number of steps required-by'the codingunits to complete one revolution. Whenever the'coding units are in homeposition and the switches 62 and 63 are closed, grounded battery 65 isconnected directly to the grounded contact arm 21 through conductingsegment and associated relay 66, energizing the said relay to maintainthe associated contacts 61 open as shown in the figure. However, whenthe coding units are not in the home position so that the contact'arms21 do not engage the conducting segment 26, grounded battery 64 isconnected to the associated motor magnet l3--a through the closedcontacts 24 associated with magnet l3-a and contacts 61 associated withrelay 66. The motor magnet i3a-is similar to the magnet l3 describedhereinbefore and is adapted to rotate the shaft l2 similarly as themagnet i3. The normally closed contacts 24 are provided with the motormagnet i3-a (see Fig. 4). Operation of the-motor magnet l 3--a causesthe shaft and associated units to be advanced one step due todeenergization of the motor magnet caused by the opening of contacts 24upon energization of the magnet. This operation permits the coding unitstobe advanced to the home position step by step until the contact arm 21engages the conducting segment 26 to energize the relay 86, thuspreventing further positioning of the units. When all the units are inthe home position the switches 62 and 63 are opened and the system isthen in condition for further coding or decod. ing operations.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamentalnovel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, itwill be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changesin' the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operationmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limitedonly as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine, a secondarymachine operable from the first, movable coding means comprising circuitchanging means interposed between and interconnecting the machines, andperforated control means to control the positioning of said coding meansthereby altering the circuit connections between said machines.

2. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine, a secondarymachine operable from the first, movable coding means interposed betweenand interconnecting the machine, and perforated control means havingrows of perforations to control the positioning of said coding means,each said row comprising a code group of perforations.

3. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine having operatinginstrumentalities, a secondary machine operable from the first, aplurality of movable coding means interposed between and interconnectingsaid machines, and means, one for each coding means, controlledpermutatively independently of the selected operating instrumentalitiesto control the positioning of the coding means.

4. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine having operatinginstrumentalities, a secondary machine operable from the first,

ing of said coding means, and means to advance the sheet so that thesaid controlled means is controlled in accordance with the perforationsof a different row.

6. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine having operableinstrumentalities, a second machine operable from the first, movableooding means interposed between and'interconnecting the said machines, acontrol sheet having rows of perforations disposed thereon, meanscontrolled by the perforations in a row on the sheet to control thepositioning of the coding means accordingly, and means to advance thesaid sheet to present a different row of perforations thereon to controlthe said controlling means in accordance therewith.

7. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine, a secondarymachine operable from the first, a control sheet having code groups ofperforations disposed thereon, a plurality oi movable coding meansinterposed between and interconnecting the machines, one for each unitof the code, and means controlled by the perforated sheet to positionthe said coding means permutatively.

8. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine, a secondarymachine operable from the first, a plurality of movable coding meansinterposed between and interconnecting the said machines, and meanscontrolled independently of the said machines to control the permutativepositioning of the said control units.

9. In a coding and decoding machine, a primary machine, a secondarymachine operable from the first, a. plurality of movable coding meansinterposed between and interconnecting" of perforations disposedthereon, a plurality of movable coding means interposed between andinterconnecting the machines, and individual positioning means therefor,and switching means controlled by the perforated control sheet tocontrol the said positioning means.

11. The invention set forth in claim 10 in which an individual codingmeans and positioning means therefor is provided for each unit of saidcode group. I

.12. In a. coding and decoding machine, a primary machine comprisingoperable instrumentalities, a. secondary machine operable from thefirst, movable .coding meansinterposed between and interconnecting thesaid machines, a plurality of elements to control the positioning ofsaid coding means, and means to operate said elements diflerently foreach operation of said instrumentalities and independent of the selectedAUS'I'IN a. NULL.

DISCLAIMER 2,116,732.-Austin R. Noll, New York, N. Y CODING AND DnooomoMACHINE. Patent dated May 10, 1938. Discla mer filed February 24, 1943,by the assignee, International Business Machtnes Corporation.

' Hereby enters this disclaimer to claims 3, 8, and 12 in saidspecification.

[O fliciab Gazette March 16', 1943.]

